IPOB Slams Supreme Court Over “Zombie Charges” Against Nnamdi Kanu, Says Justice Omotosho Presiding Over “Legal Corpse”

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has launched a scathing attack on the Nigerian judiciary, accusing the Supreme Court of plunging the country into a “legal abyss” by remitting terrorism charges against its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, for trial under repealed laws.

In a statement issued on Sunday, August 10, 2025, IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, described the December 15, 2023 Supreme Court ruling in FRN v. Nnamdi Kanu as a judicial travesty that forces Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court to oversee what it called a “judicial impossibility.”

Charges Based on Repealed Laws
According to IPOB, the terrorism charges were filed under the Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act 2013, which was repealed in full on May 12, 2022, by the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022. Citing Section 97 of the new law, Section 6(3) of the Interpretation Act 2004, and the case of A.G. Federation v. A.G. Abia State (2002), the group maintained that “courts cannot breathe life into repealed statutes.”

“This is not law; it is necromancy,” the statement read.

Finality of Appeal Court’s Acquittal
The group further argued that the Court of Appeal’s October 13, 2022 decision, which discharged and acquitted Kanu, should have marked the end of the case under Section 249(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and Section 36(9) of the 1999 Constitution, which prohibits double jeopardy.

“The Supreme Court’s reversal without curing this defect is constitutional arson,” IPOB stated, citing FRN v. Saraki (2018) as precedent.

“Jurisdictional Void” for Justice Omotosho
IPOB insisted that no court within the common law tradition could validly hear the matter, as it rests on repealed charges, violates double jeopardy, and stems from what it termed “state-sponsored kidnapping” in reference to Kanu’s 2021 extraordinary rendition from Kenya.

“Justice Omotosho’s docket now holds a legal corpse,” the group declared.

Call for Action
Labeling the situation as “judicial terrorism,” IPOB urged Justice Omotosho to strike out the case and called on the Nigerian Bar Association and international legal bodies to examine the matter.

“This judgment is the funeral of Nigeria’s rule of law. We shall bury it,” the statement concluded.